Will Power wins Indycar Series title as Tony Kanaan wins MavTV 500

Verizon Team Penske driver Will Power (#12) kisses the IndyCar World Championship trophy after winning the overall series at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA., Saturday August 30, 2014. (Photo by John Valenzuela/Inland Valley Daily Bulletin)

Verizon Team Penske driver Will Power(#12) races ahead of Takuma Sato (#14) during the the Verizon IndyCar Series MAVTV 500 IndyCar World Championship Race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA., Saturday August 30, 2014. (Photo by John Valenzuela/Inland Valley Daily Bulletin)

FONTANA >> All eyes have been following Team Penske all week heading into the Verizon IndyCar series MavTV 500 at Auto Club Speedway.

That’s because teammates Will Power and Helio Castroneves were battling for the series points lead; neither having won a title despite coming close numerous times.

The Target Chip Ganassi Racing team was able to slightly steal the thunder from the Team Penske drivers to take the 500-mile race on a steaming hot Saturday night in front of approximately 25,000. Tony Kanaan won with teammate Scott Dixon finishing 3.675 seconds behind him. Ed Carpenter, in his final race for his own team, finished third.

“It’s been a long time coming,” said Kanaan, whose last victory was the 2013 Indianapolis 500. “Finally; what an awesome feeling.”

Kanaan scored his fifth podium finish in the last seven races. It was the first time Ganassi drivers went 1-2 since Pocono of last year. It was the first time there has been 11 different winners in an IndyCar season.

“You get into the end season and you love getting the attention,” Kanaan said. “We had nothing to lose. The best thing to do was to win races. Why should (Penske) worry me and Scott? We just surprised everyone and won the race.”

Power, who had led the series three previous times heading into the season finale, finally nailed down that title, leaving his doubters in the dust. He finished ninth in the race.

“I was crying over the (finish) line,” the 33-year-old Australian said. “It just went on and on and the car wasn’t great.

“It’s surreal. I can’t believe it. My hands are like numb from holding on to the wheel so tightly. I can’t believe I won it.”

It gave car owner Roger Penske his first series title since 2006. It was icing on the cake for the team; Penske built the 2-mile oval and it was the first time one of his drivers has won the series title at the facility.

“We got what we wanted; the championship,” Penske said. “What a night. You couldn’t ask for anything more. To think we could win the championship here is pretty special.

“Will’s worked hard and has the monkey off his back now.”

Power led Castroneves by 51 points heading into the weekend. He finished ninth and Castroneves was 14th. He won the title by 62 points.

“You never think it can happen until it happens,” said Power, who started the race in 20th. “I’m the champion. I can’t believe it happened. The last 48 hours have been the worst of my life. Just mentally, just emotionally. I was not sleeping, I was stressing.”

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There was only one yellow flag in the race, when Ryan Hunter-Reay spun on his own on Turn 4 on the 176th lap. Castroneves was in the lead and Power in sixth at the time.

Power beat Castroneves out of the pits and went low on the track, into dust and grit created because no other driver had gone that low, to pass Kanaan and Dixon. The Ganassi pair passed right back.

The series title was decided on the race’s final pit stop sequence with 35 lap to go. Castroneves, who finished a lap down, entered the pits below the white line and received a drive-through penalty, dropping him well off the pace.

“After that it was bring it home,” said Castroneves, who has finished second in the series four times in his career. “It stings a little bit, but that is what motivates me. It’s good to be upset when you finish second to the championship. Another reason for me to come back stronger next year and fix it so I can win a championship.”

That drive-through penalty was the nail, Power said.

“When I took the lead I thought, ‘This is good,’ “ Power said. “I had a pretty good shot. When he got the drive-through, I said, ‘OK, we can do this.’ It was 15 years of hard work.”

Power’s other title competitor, third-place Simon Pagenaud, had handling problems early and quickly fell several laps off the pace. He finished in 20th place, seven laps off the lead, and dropped to fifth in series points.

“It was not the night I expected,” the Frenchman said. “I don’t know what happened with the car. It was not handling the way we prepared it.”

Dixon, who finished the season winning three of the last four races, finished in third place, five points behind Castroneves,

“Wow, that was one heck of a way to end the season with a 1-2 Team Target finish,” the 2013 series champion said. “It’s always a good feeling to head into the offseason with a good result and strong momentum.’’

Kanaan had replaced Dario Franchitti at the beginning of the season.

“We struggled at the beginning of the year and it showed,” he said. “At midseason we showed how strong we were. I was just hanging in there. He guys got me a great stop and put me in the lead.”

Team Penske driver Juan Pablo-Montoya, who led the most laps (85), finished fourth in the race. He finished fourth in series points and won the Triple Crown for the best finishes in the three 500-mile races.

Only two drivers who qualified for the race did not finish. Carlos Huertas dropped out after 21 laps because he was feeling ill. Mikhail Aleshin, who broke ribs in a horrific practice accident Friday night, did not start.